RMV->) Re: "Finding the Right Anesthesia Provider" (2007 Manager's Guide to New Surgical Construction, January supplement, page 92). Having set up three outpatient facilities myself (in Ohio and Florida), I can attest to the sensibility of most of what Paul Patane, MD, MBA, writes. However, I take issue when he says that, "at a minimum, you should have a board-certified anesthesiologist in your facility whenever a patient is receiving an anesthetic or recovering from one." There's no credible scientific evidence to support this advice. And you may have left the impression that not having an anesthesiologist is somehow dangerous or a lesser standard of care. As a CRNA with almost 20 years experience and thousands of cases performed without a single complication, none of my patients would have benefited from the presence of an anesthesiologist. As a member of Outpatient Surgery's editorial board, I didn't think it would be fair to my CRNA colleagues or to the magazine if I didn't write this note.

Jay Horowitz, CRNA
Sarasota, Fla.
writeMail("unconscious@verizon.net")